“Why we fly” Kimberly Jones & Gilly Segal

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC. Sourcebooks Fire. To be published October 5, 2021. 297 p.

Chanel and Eleanor have been best friends since they were four years old. Now cheerleaders on their school’s team, they have plans to win the National High School Cheerleading Championships. Chanel is extremely competitive, driven to be the best, with her whole future mapped out. Eleanor knows cheerleading is the only thing she’s good at, but enjoys letting Nelly take the lead. Senior year takes a downward dive when Eleanor suffers two serious concussions after flying stunts go awry. Severe headaches threaten her cheerleader status, but she’s determined to fly again – especially when Three (the school’s star quarterback) takes a romantic interest.

Nelly is peeved when Leni starts spending time with Three instead of focusing on their plans to win Nationals, and is even more upset when she loses the Captaincy to her best friend. Cracks in their relationship start to form, but deeply widen when the team takes a knee during the Anthem and Chanel is the only one punished. Oblivious to what’s really going on right in front of her, Leni continues to ruminate on her own life and chase after Three while her friendship with Nelly begins to evaporate.

Using alternating voices, Chanel and Eleanor tell their stories, as scenes from the movement started by Colin Kaepernick in 2016 play out in their narratives. The cheerleaders at Kennesaw State University who kneeled during the anthem in 2017 to show their support for racial inequality were an inspiration to the authors.

Recommended for ages 16 and older.

I received an advance reading copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“What lives in the woods” Lindsay Currie

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC. Sourcebooks Young Readers. To be published September 14, 2021. 300 p.

Twelve-year-old Ginny is highly upset because her father chose THIS summer to mess up her life. She, her mom, and older brother have to spend a month with him in some old Michigan house so he can research how to renovate it. She was supposed to attend a writing workshop at home with her best friend, but how was she supposed to learn how to write mystery novels like her favorite author Agatha Christie if she was stuck in an old house hours away from civilization?

The minute they arrive at spooky Woodmoor Manor Ginny senses an ominous presence, and is terrified when strange things start happening. Though everything in her screams that she should run away, Ginny is determined to think like Agatha and figure out the mystery of the shadowy people with red eyes that have been randomly appearing. What she doesn’t yet know is that the ghostly presence has a mind of its own, and it will take everything she’s ever learned about mysteries to get to the bottom of the situation.

Currie did a great job luring readers into avidly turning pages to find out if Ginny could figure out what was going on in Woodmoor Manor. I couldn’t put the book down until I breathed a sigh of relief with Ginny.

Recommended for ages 11-15.

I received an advance reading copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“Beneath a scarlet sky” Mark Sullivan

Rated 5 stars ***** ebook. Lake Union Publishing. 2017.

“Beneath a scarlet sky” tells the story of Pino Lella, a forgotten Italian hero from World War II, who led a secret life during the Nazi occupation of Milan Italy. At the age of 17, to keep them safe from bombing raids, his parents sent him and his brother to a Catholic Boys School in the Alps led by a brave priest named Father Re.

Pino had always loved skiing so, with Father Re’s urging, he endured dangerous ski trips to ferry Jewish refugees to freedom in Switzerland. When he turned eighteen his parents forced him to join a Nazi Organization to protect him from being killed in Mussolini’s army. Disgusted at the thought of living with the enemy while everyone else fought for Italy, Pino joined the Italian Resistance as a spy. While working as a driver for General Hans Leyers, a top Nazi general who reported directly to Hitler, Pino passed secret information to the Allies. It was while working for Leyers that Pino met Anna, the love of his life.

The horrors of Nazi atrocities, along with Pino’s bravery and ability to find romance in the midst of tragedy, are all detailed in this deeply moving book. Sullivan spent years researching and following clues to bring us Pino’s heartbreaking story, and his hard work is revealed in its pages.

Highly recommended for Adults.

“Broken angels” Gemma Liviero

Rated 5 stars ***** ebook. Lake Union Publishing. 2016.

Elsi lived with her mother and little sister in the crowded Jewish Ghetto of Lodz Poland. Despite their bleak circumstances Elsi believes things can be different, but things go from bad to worse. On the day her life is about to end, Willem Gebhardt comes to her rescue.

Willem Gebhardt’s father was a high-ranking Nazi, who expected his son to follow in his cold-hearted footsteps. However, Willem was not what his father expected him to be. Unlike his father, his heart remained soft, so he was horrified when he was forced to perform experimental surgeries on female Jewish prisoners at Auschwitz. In many ways he could not disobey his father, but he could bend the rules in other ways.

Nine-year-old Matilda lived with her brothers and mother on a lavender farm in Romania. Her Aryan looks, as well as her ability to speak and write German, resulted in her being taken from her family and place in a German training center. There she was soon beaten, starved and isolated for perceived misdeeds.

In time these character’s lives become intertwined. Liviero’s portrayal of Willem was especially insightful. Before and during World War II the Nazis inflicted many atrocities on millions, so it’s impossible to feel any sympathy for them. However, through his portrayal of Willem, Liviero manages to wring out some positive emotions specifically for him.

Recommended for Adults.

“Drowning with others” Linda Keir

Rated 2 stars ** ebook. Lake Union Publishing. 2019.

Andi was a senior at her prestigious boarding school where she and Ian were the IT couple. She always thought he was The One, until she found someone else. She didn’t know her new love would haunt her memories for twenty years.

Ian was desperately in love, and couldn’t figure out why Andi broke up with him. When he found out, he was extremely jealous. All he could think about was how to make him pay for taking Andi away.

Cassidy was a legacy at Glenlake Academy, where members of her family had attended for over 100 years. When a twenty-year-old former teacher’s skeleton was found on campus, her teacher decided to use the case to teach his students about investigative journalism. Her excitement about being a journalist slowly changed to fear as she realized her parents had been seniors the year the man disappeared, and had ties to the murdered teacher. As clues begin to mount, Ian and Andi will have to come to terms with what happened 20 years ago while Cassidy will have to decide if truth is really all it’s cracked up to be.

Told through flashbacks and multiple points of view, “Drowning with others” is yet another book that caters to the rich at the expense of those with less fortunes. Though I know this is a normal occurrence in the lives of people whose Starbucks tab is more than I make in a year, reading about it is something I try to avoid. It did have some good moments but, overall, I wasn’t thrilled.

Thought I wasn’t a fan, I will leave it up to you to decide whether you want to read it or not.

“The Warsaw orphan” Kelly Rimmer

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC. ebook. Graydon House. To be published June 1, 2021.

It is 1942 in Warsaw Poland. Elzbieta is almost 14 years old and is tired of being cooped up with pretend parents. The Germans in her former town had killed her father and brother so, with her life in danger, she’s been whisked away to live a new life. Without permission she’s been sneaking away to spend time with her neighbor Sara, not realizing her work as a nurse allows her to smuggle Jewish children out of the ghetto.

Sixteen-year-old Roman and his family are fighting for survival in the Jewish ghetto. Every day is a struggle to find food to feed his starving mother because, if fed, she could make a little milk to feed his malnourished baby sister. All they have left is a thin sliver of soap he hopes to trade for something edible.

To ease her boredom Elzbieta is given permission to learn about nursing with Sara, but is soon asked to come into the ghetto and assist with the children. There she meets Roman and his family. Their friendship turns to love but, when his family gets sent to the work camps, his anger leaves him wanting to fight to the death with the Resistance. With his focus on fighting, he and Elzbieta will have to work to see if their love can survive what the Germans have in store.

In the past I had read a little about the Jewish resistance in the Warsaw ghetto, but seeing it happen through Roman’s eyes made the sad details really come to life. This book about finding, and holding on to, love in the midst of the heartbreak of life in the Warsaw ghetto will touch reader’s hearts.

Recommended for ages 18 and older.

I received an advance reading copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“The family plot” Megan Collins

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC. ebook. Atria Books. To be published August 17, 2021.

Dahlia and her family have never been normal. Her mother surrounded them with murder victims, and raised them to become experts in everything having to do with murderers. Dahlia, her twin brother Andy, and her older brother and sister were homeschooled in their creaky old home, kept away from the locals with only each other for company. They had all been named for murder victims, while their mother’s murder curriculum had them memorizing death poses and serial killer facts. Everything in their lives revolved around real murders and murderers. Dahlia felt she had a special closeness with Andy because he was her twin, so was devastated when he ran away the day they turned sixteen. She spent three years waiting for him before she moved off the island.

Though it had been 10 years since she’d left, Dahlia had never given up searching for Andy. When her father died unexpectedly, the siblings reunited. When their father’s plot was opened everyone was shocked to find Andy’s bones in the gravesite, murdered by an ax wound to the head. Dahlia is desperate to find out who killed him but, the more she searches for suspects, the more mysteries she uncovers.

As Dahlia works her way through her memories and a list of suspects, it becomes clear that many people could have killed Andy. She also begins to realize she didn’t know Andy as well as she’d thought, because he’d kept his own set of secrets. Collins carefully doled out secrets for each page of this whodunit. I was shocked when his killer was finally revealed, because I did NOT see it coming!

Recommended for Adults.

I received an advance reading copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“Where the truth lies” Anna Bailey

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC. ebook. Atria Books. To be published August 3, 2021.

Since they were little, seventeen-year-old Emma and her best friend Abi have done everything together. Abi’s home life is far from ideal, while Emma’s father left her behind when he returned to Mexico when she was a child. As a result, the two of them depended upon each other for happiness. One night, during a party, Abi disappeared into the woods and was never seen again. Emma is wracked with guilt because she let Abi go. She is determined to find out what happened that night so enlists the help of Hunter Maddox, a local boy who used to party with Abi.

As Hunter and Emma try to find out what happened to Abi, characters in their small town make their debut. Abi’s mother and brothers have been severely beaten by their father for many years, as he’s still suffering PTSD from his time in Vietnam. They all have something to add to Abi’s story, but have their reasons for staying silent. Hunter’s father has his secrets to keep too. Noah, Abi’s brother, has a huge secret he’s not willing to share. As the townspeople’s secrets are revealed, we begin to realize this town is a place where only Americans are wanted, where a fanatical preacher willingly leads his congregation to religious fervor that can lead to death, and where being different or an outsider can cost your life.

A maelstrom of anger, guilt, prejudice, lust and fear, told through flashbacks and the present time, will keep readers anxiously turning pages to find out whodunit. When the shocking truth of what happened to Abi is finally revealed, you will be left dumbfounded. The many clues Bailey scattered throughout did nothing to prepare me. It won’t prepare you either.

Highly recommended for ages 17 and older.

I received an advance reading copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“The Nine” Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg

Rated 3 stars *** ebook. She Writes Press. 2019.

For many years Hannah couldn’t have children. When she finally had Sam she devoted every minute to him, often neglecting her husband in the process. Hannah wanted Sam to attend the best schools so, when the opportunity arose to enroll him in an exclusive boarding school, she persuaded her husband that this was for the best. So off Sam went to Dunning Academy.

While at Dunning Sam becomes involved in a secret society called “The Nine.” The Nine were created when the Academy started to diversity the student body and to admit girls, but Sam was assured all they did now was play tricks on the Administration. One night, while exploring one of Dunning’s many underground tunnels, Sam discovered someone was secretly videotaping girls in the shower. He trusts Jason, Head of the Nine, with the information but soon learns the hard way that trusting the Nine as a regular student is never the same as trusting the Nine when you’re rich.

This novel shows how, once again, money can talk anyone out of trouble. All it does is remind me of the impenetrable gap between the haves and have-nots, and tells me that no matter what the have-nots do, they can never, ever catch up.

Though I wasn’t a big fan I’ll leave it up to readers ages 18 and older to decide if they want to read it or not.

“The woman with the blue star” Pam Jenoff

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC. ebook. Park Row Books. To be published May 4, 2021.

It is 1942 in the Jewish ghetto of Podgórze in Poland. Eighteen-year-old Sadie, her father, very pregnant mother and several others escaped the ghetto’s liquidation and were led to safety in an underground labyrinth of sewer pipes by a sympathetic Polish sewer worker. Soon after their arrival her father drowns in the smelly, rushing sewer waters. Though the stench is horrible, the filth is constant, and they barely get enough to eat, Sadie, her mother and the other survivors know the sewer is their only hope.

Nineteen-year-old Ella lives in a big house in Kraków, and is mourning the loss of her father. Her evil stepmother has been collaborating with the Germans and she misses her boyfriend who’d gone off to war. While visiting a distant marketplace, she happens upon a sewer grate and notices a face hiding in the shadows. As Ella gets to know Sadie she realizes her position of relative wealth and safety could offer hope to the beleaguered family. Though she knows the penalty for helping Jewish people is death, her humanity wins out over her fear.

“The woman with the blue star” is a story of hope, love and survival. It’s based on the true story of Jews who were hidden from the Germans in the sewers of Lwow, Poland by a compassionate sewer worker.

Recommended for ages 18 and older.

I received an advance reading copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.